Effects of oral contraceptive pills on serum lipoproteins and triglycerides

Possible effects of a combined oral contraceptive (femenal) on blood triglycerides and high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-Chol) were studied in 25 women who had opted for hormonal contraception. Total serum triglycerides of 64.60 +/- 12.39 mg/dl (mean +/- SD) obtained prior to the commencement of hormonal contraception, did not reveal any statistical difference from the value of 65.49 +/- 7.96 mg/dl obtained after 9 months contraception. Similarly, precontraception HDL-Chol value of 58.05 +/- 6.58 mg/dl was also not statistically different from the treatment value of 58.82 +/- 5.42 mg/dl. Regression analysis of the values between control (precontraception) and treatment (9 months contraception) showed high correlation coefficients: (1) serum triglycerides, R2 = 0.5201; P less than 0.001; (2) serum HDL-Chol, R2 = 0.6590; P less than 0.001. Both the mean body weight and blood pressure of the study subjects remained unchanged after 9 months continuous use of femenal for contraception.